Costa Rican Prison System Launches Programming Class for Inmates

Inmates in Costa Rica are changing their lives for the better as the country's Ministry of Justice and Peace offers them a course in programming taught by no less than experts from the Microsoft Corporation.

The initial batch of inmates to participate in the new program includes 15 prisoners from the Heredia detainment facility called the Centro de Atención Institucional Gerardo Rodríguez, per Costa Rica Star News.

The trainees, aged between 22 and 53 years old, were chosen because of their good behavior while inside the penitentiary.

According to Costa Rican Times, the trainees have already reached the 8th or 9th level of education that is being offered inside the prison and will be undergoing training in web development and programming in Javascript, HTML-5, and CSS.

After they finish the program, they will be given a certification in "Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3," which they can use to look for related jobs once they get out of prison.

With the new program offering free training in web development provided by the California-based company, the country's Ministry of Justice and Peace are giving the prisoners a second chance to make good of their remaining stay in the penitentiary.

"This agreement is aimed at one of the most important goals of prison management and where we have, probably, failed the most: creating opportunities to facilitate the reintegration of persons deprived of liberty into society," said Cecilia Sanchez, one of the country's Justice Ministers.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's chief for Costa Rica, Carlos Flores, said that the program is aimed at helping prisoners develop skills that can help them to become better members of society.

"We are committed to the development of communities in which we operate. We are very pleased to support [a program] that will be useful and open doors once [inmates] leave the center," he told Costa Rica News.

What is odd, according to Costa Rican Times, is that the program which began in December was conducted while maintaining security measures regarding the prevention of uncontrolled use of Internet access.

According to the outlet, a controlled network was set up exclusively for the practice of the class which is being conducted for four hours once a week.

Furthermore, those chosen for the program are not being forced into the training to prove that those involved indeed have the necessary work ethic to succeed in the industry.